Don't Have a Safe for Documents? That Could Cost You More Money and Time Than You'd Ever Guess

A safe is an important part of your home security system.

Adulthood comes with a lot of important and difficult-to-replace paperwork, like your Social Security card, birth certificate, and various financial documents. While you can certainly keep these important bits and bobs in a safe deposit box at your local bank branch, doing so will mean paying a monthly rental fee as well as losing instant access to your stuff when you need it. You'll have to take yourself to the bank (during their open hours, which likely coincide with your working hours or anything else you want to do besides visit a financial institution and often wait to be helped) to access items. So what's the solution?

If you have paperwork (and even cash money, jewelry, and other valuable items) you want to keep secure while still maintaining your access to it, consider purchasing a safe. There are several different kinds available, from small models that will be easy to grab and take with you in the event of a natural disaster evacuation, all the way up to large safes built right into a wall of your home that will deter burglars. You likely don't need the latter, unless you own a lot of larger items that should be locked up (such as firearms). Keep reading to see how not having one of these handy storage containers can impact your bank account balance as well as your free time.

Losing money

If you're keeping cash at home, this is the easiest way for you to directly lose money if you don't have a safe to keep it in. Home invasions can happen anytime, and if you live in an area where burglary is a risk, you've likely taken the important step of setting up a monitored home security system, perhaps with cameras and motion sensors. You can finish the job and prevent money loss by adding a home safe to keep that cash out of the hands of thieves. And in the event of an impending natural disaster, if you're asked to evacuate, you have your cash and documents in one place where they'll be easy to grab and bring along.

Without a home safe, you're also at risk of losing money if your identity documents (like that Social Security card) are unprotected and vulnerable to theft. If someone nefarious has access to your personal data, they can steal your identity and ruin your finances. Having to clean up the fallout from identity theft can cost you money. Save yourself money and a headache by investing in a safe.

Losing time

If you're lacking a secure and protected spot for your important documents (not just identity paperwork, but copies of tax returns, car titles, credit card statements, and more), you're going to lose time if they are destroyed or stolen. How so? You'll have to replace them. This can include contacting the government to get help replacing that Social Security card, asking your CPA to send you a copy of last year's tax return, and so on. And if you have reason to suspect you're a victim of identity theft, you'll have to spend time monitoring your credit report and reaching out to your financial institutions if your back-up credit cards have been taken by thieves who broke into your home.

Getting a home safe for your important documents and any cash savings or other valuable items is a smart idea that can save you both money and time. If you have to evacuate to escape a wildfire or a hurricane, or are frequently away from home, knowing your stuff is both secure and easily accessible to you when you need it can give you some much-needed peace of mind in this sometimes-scary world.